Roy Oppenheim has been practicing law since 1987 focusing his practice on all phases of real estate and real estate development and redevelopment from land acquisition to multifamily, retail, office hotel, industrial and mixed-use development, as well as single family home development for sale and rent. Mr. Oppenheim has routinely represented developers, investors, home buyers and lenders in these commercial transactions in Florida and elsewhere in the United States. He has been involved in virtually every stage of the development process from acquisition, due diligence, title insurance, financing and closing of such projects.
Mr. Oppenheim is also proud to represent high and ultra-high net worth individuals and families in connection with the complexities associated with their estates and their businesses, as well as providing shrewd counsel concerning asset protection planning and asset preservation and growth. Mr. Oppenheim’s clients turn to him for his sharp legal acumen along with his entrepreneurial background that allows Mr. Oppenheim to approach each matter from a pragmatic and refreshing background. Further, clients enjoy Mr. Oppenheim’s infectious passion for his involvement in their business as well as his unbiased legal opinion based on a holistic approach, rather than from a siloed perspective. From analyzing and negotiating to structuring deals, Mr. Oppenheim’s clients turn to him time and again for his advice. In fact, Mr. Oppenheim has served on the Board of Directors of Catalina Lighting, Inc., a New York Stock Exchange company.
Mr. Oppenheim also represents Florida real estate brokers and Realtors, individual buyers, and sellers in connection with the purchase and sale of Florida real property as well as litigates real estate disputes involving both residential and commercial properties. Mr. Oppenheim also served as outside general counsel for various Florida companies over the past 30 years providing sound legal advice to start ups as well as mature businesses concerning various business and corporate matters including governance, expansion, acquisitions, borrowing, commercial litigation, and employment related matters. The myriad of businesses Mr. Oppenheim represents is vast including in the fields of retail, hospitality, entertainment, technology, import-export, and wholesale. Many of these businesses have both a physical and/ or online presence. Mr. Oppenheim here again brings over three decades of legal knowledge and business experience to his clients and their respective businesses.
After Working for Milbank Tweed on Wall Street and White & Case in Miami, Mr. Oppenheim founded Oppenheim Law in 1989 with his wife Ellen Pilelsky where they began representing Arvida Development in the early 1990’s and its various home builders amongst numerous national banks such as Northern Trust, Chase Bank and SunTrust Bank. Over the years the firm has been involved, along with its sister company Weston Title & Escrow, with numerous prominent and highly claimed developments including Windmill Reserve, Landmark Ranch Estates, Botanica, Metropica, and Neovita Doral, among many others.
Serving national, international, and local clients, Mr. Oppenheim has the highest rating (A-V) conferred by Martindale Hubbell Law Directory, the most respected directory of lawyers and law firms in the U.S. He has also been selected as a “Best Real Estate Lawyer in the United States” since 2012, a designation of only 5% of all Lawyers. The Firm also has a 10.0 rating, the highest rating from AVVO another distinguished national rating service.
In 1989, Mr. Oppenheim also co-founded and served as general counsel to ShopSmart Corp., the company that originated and owned the GNC Gold Card Program, a program that continues to this day and was one of the first cross-promotional programs of its kind.
In addition, in 1994, Roy co-founded Weston Title & Escrow, the oldest title company in Weston, Florida that serves all of Florida and has closed in excess of three billion dollars in transactions. Mr. Oppenheim currently serves as its Senior Vice President. In 1999, Mr. Oppenheim also served a one-year term on the board of directors for Catalina Lighting, a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.
Mr. Oppenheim is also designated by the Florida Secretary of State as an International Civil Law Notary, one of only 137 out of 106,000 attorneys in the State.
In 2008, during the foreclosure crisis and the Great Recession, Mr. Oppenheim and his team of lawyers represented 1000’s of homeowners that were unable to pay their mortgages and were facing foreclosures. Facing daunting odds and the rath of large foreclosure mills funded by the big banks, Mr. Oppenheim helped establish a new legal practice area of foreclosure defense while helping these homeowners defend themselves against the banks.
During that time Mr. Oppenheim became an outspoken critic of the banks and started Southfloridalawbog.com, which was voted the best business and technology blog by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The blog was syndicated to Yahoo! Homes, and Newsweek. Mr. Oppenheim routinely appeared on HuffPost Live, FOX News, and Lifetime TV and on WLRN Radio. In addition, he has been quoted in prominent national publications, including USA Today, The New York Times and Huffington Post, among others.
Mr. Oppenheim has also co-authored and two law review articles, Deconstructing The Black Magic of Securitized Trusts, published in the Stetson University Law Review’s Spring 2012 Edition, and The Emperor’s New Clothes, published in the William & Mary Business Law Review Volume 6. Both addresses systemic legal problems with the residential foreclosure process at the time.
Mr. Oppenheim grew up in the Bronx where he learned “street smarts”, and became focused driven, working hard to always persevere and to never rely on his laurels.
Today, Mr. Oppenheim is a sought-after legal expert and lecturer on issues relating to the real estate market and other real estate law related issues. His You Tube channel has over one million views. He is recognized as one of the Top Contributors to Lawyers.com. He speaks fluent German and when Mr. Oppenheim is not working you can find him with his family, skiing, travelling, or cooking.
Admissions
- Florida Bar, 1987; Member of the Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section
- New York Bar, 1987; United States District for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, 1987
- U.S. District Court, Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, 1993
Education
- Princeton University, A.B., cum laude, 1982
- Northwestern University School of Law, J.D., 1986
- Member of the Northwestern University Law Review
- Member of the National Moot Court Team
Honors and Awards
- Martindale Hubbell AV Rating, 1991- Present
- Avvo Highest Rating 10.0
- Sun-Sentinel Best of Blog Awards in Business and Technology (BOB Award), The South Florida Law Blog, January 2011
- Best Lawyers in America, 2012 – Present
- Marquis’ Who’s Who in America Law, 2011 – Present
- Marquis’ Who’s Who Albert Nelson Marquis’ Lifetime Achievement Award – 2017